I thought of working with short stories, you know, reading them and then discussing the story and whatever issues dealt with in the story.. but the idea doesn�t really appeal to these people, i need something fresher "cooler" if you wish (discussing the news is also out of the question). At the same time it cant be something very structured and didactic, like typical textbook.. bc i know most of these people and they would pretty much laugh at my face if i started embracing the teacher role too much... Also, I can�t just sit them down and tell them to start taling in english... i need topics and some structure, so that they can take me for an authoriy figure because otherwise they will just speak in spanish

 

 

I decided to look for some maybe packaged courses I could adopt and then adapt, but didn�t find any, so I turned to textbooks.. but there are so many that I have no clue which one to buy (they too are expensive to buy a bunch at once!)

 

Soooo.... I thought I"d post here to see if you had any suggestions about what to do, or if you know any good book, textbook I could refer to.... I just need a platform, after that I don�t mind making changes etc

 

Thanks!

 

There is a good book out called Keep Talking by F. Klippel.   This book has many different approaches to conversation such as discussion games, thinking strategies, and problem solving activities.  I think this book would appeal to your age group.  I have used this book many times and find it gets people talking as well as having fun at the same time. 

 

You might also try to have each student talk about something that they possess or do that has an interesting story behind it. 

 

You could also download some of the conversation and strategy games  that are on the site. Go on seach and search for survivor games.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

But a method that really caught our attention was one known as Community Language Learning and if I remember it was basically about a group sharing problems and issues that concerned them personally.  I don�t remember the full details and rationale behind the methodology but I am sure you can search it on the internet and look at it for yourself.

 

I do recall that it was an extremely meaningful time for the participants, who shared real issues with real language practice.  They did not focus on language problems, but on other things and the language flowed naturally, fluently and relatively accurately as a result.

 

Just a suggestion. 

 

cheezels suggested a good site with conversational questions. Here you have the link to the discussion:

 

 

Then, I think that when you have defined the topic you would like to develop you can start looking for texts on the Internet or at any library. A good needs-analysis of the group may help you to select the topic. Why don�t you prepare a kind of form including different topics that they have choose?

I teach adults and many times people have said to me that they want only conversation, they would like to talk and immidiately I tell them that this kind of class doesn�t exist. At the beginning they will talk, but then they will run out of subjects. So I believe that you have to guide your group and you have to organize  the lessons. Firstly I asked my students what they like doing ( travelling, cooking , cinema, art). Then I research the subjects. We always have a text. I read it with the students and then we discuss it. I prepare vocabulary exercises for the text and when possible a listening about something related. People don�t improve if it�s not organized. The will speak all the time about the same subjects and no new vocabulary will come up. On this site you have a lot of very interesting texts about all kinds of subjects, just check it out.

A big hug,

Silvia

 

I wasn�t expecting so many replies especially not this fast!

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I will surely look into them! My plan was to take advantage of the holidays (I�m on summer vacation right now) to really sit down and plan the course out , and then test it out!

 

Someone mentioned the community language learning, I�ve studied that technique, so yes, I keep it in mind, the only problem is that these people all know each other so on one hand, they already know much about each other, so the purpose of sharing gets lost. On the other hand because they know each other and they are in the same social circles, they might not open up like they would if they were surrounded by strangers. However, if i decide to expand and offer this course to other people, not aquaintances, then definitively, the CLL approach will come in handy

 

I did a sort of needs analysis, but like someone else said, they just want a course to talk, and are not very specific. However, through that needs analysis I found out they didn�t like the literature nor the news idea.. that�s why I discarded them.

 

The books on taboos and controversial topics is a great tip! I�ve been looking for something like that to spike conversation, but couldn�t find any

 

A great idea that will work with this group (friends etc) is the games! I haven�t thought of that!

 

I still have to check out the questions links, but I�m sure they will be useful in one way or another

 

 

Finally, thanks for the classroom management tips, and how to be an authority figure but not a boss, nor a friend. I think I have the knowledge but lack a lot of experience, and especially the age factor.. it�s a big issue for me, I�ve been turned down for jobs because I was too young and thus lacked this sense of authority when it comes to working with older students

 

 

Anyways, I will start working on this course and let you know how it goes!